Both fences let light and wind through, but they age very differently. Roll mesh costs less and follows the ground, while 3D mesh panels are stiffer, stay straight for longer and look tidier.
In our price guide, a roll-mesh fence costs €25–45/m installed and a 3D panel fence €35–60/m, so on a 50 m boundary the difference is usually €500–750. Roll mesh only stays straight with braced corner posts and correct tension, while a rigid panel holds its own shape. If you are not yet sure you want a see-through fence at all, start with our guide to choosing a fence.
| Chain-link / roll mesh | 3D mesh panels | |
|---|---|---|
| Price installed | €25–45/m | €35–60/m |
| 50 m fence | €1,250–2,250 | €1,750–3,000 |
| Construction | Mesh tensioned between posts, line wires top and bottom | Rigid welded panels, a post at every joint |
| Shape after years | Straight if the corners are braced and the tension is right | Does not sag, but shows every lifted post at once |
| Sloping plot | Follows a gentle slope and uneven ground | Stepped or raked |
| Wind | Low, unless the mesh is covered with fabric or a hedge | Low, unless the panels are covered with fabric or strips |
| Climbing | The diamond mesh gives a foothold | Narrow mesh and stiffness make it harder |
| Repair after an impact | Dents are pulled out, a new piece is woven into chain-link | The damaged panel is replaced |
| Look | Simple and rural | Tidy and modern |
| Gates | Mesh or panel infill in a frame | Same panel and colour |
Prices are from our price guide and include materials and standard installation. The 50 m figures are calculated from the same ranges; we confirm the exact amount after a free site visit.
Weighing up chain-link against a mesh panel fence? Start with how each is built. Both use galvanised steel wire, but one is a flexible mesh and the other a rigid section, which explains almost every difference in price, installation and durability.
Roll mesh is either woven chain-link with a diamond pattern or welded mesh with rectangular openings. It comes in rolls, is tensioned between the posts and held by line wires along the top and bottom. The wire is galvanised, or galvanised and PVC-coated in a colour such as green.
Its strength lies in the corner and end posts, not the mesh. They carry all the tension, so they are braced with struts and set on a solid base, while the lighter intermediate posts are usually 2.5–3 m apart. If a corner post gives even slightly, the whole run goes slack.
A 3D panel is a welded steel-wire section stiffened by V-shaped bends, usually about 2.5 m wide and most often 1.23–2.03 m tall. Each panel is clamped to a post at every joint. The galvanised, powder-coated finish never needs painting; anthracite RAL 7016 and green RAL 6005 are the most popular colours.
With nothing to tension, the posts must instead be set to the centimetre, or the panels will not fit and the top line will wave. For a business site, or anywhere you need even more stiffness, the next step up is a 2D panel fence with double horizontal wires, at €50–85/m in our price guide.
Roll mesh gives when pushed, and a foot finds a hold in the diamond mesh of chain-link, so it is easier to climb. The narrow vertical openings and stiffness of a 3D panel make climbing harder. One edge of each panel has short wire ends: at the top they deter climbers, at the bottom they keep the fence safer for children.
Roll mesh blends into the landscape around a summer house, garden plot or woodland edge, while a 3D panel fence looks ordered in front of a modern house. We install both chain-link and roll-mesh fences and 3D mesh panel fences, with gates to match.
Neither fence stands in the way of the wind, so both suit a seaside plot or open fields. The trouble starts when windbreak fabric or privacy strips are added, or a hedge grows densely through the mesh: the fence then acts almost like a solid wall, and posts chosen for an open fence start to lean in storms.
If you plan to screen part of the fence, tell us at the site visit. We will size the posts and foundations of that stretch for the extra load, or build a solid privacy fence there from the start.
Along a road, the plough throws snow, sand and stones straight at the fence. Roll mesh gets pushed out at the bottom and stays bowed; a 3D panel copes better, but a hard hit bends it for good. Keeping the fence a little back from the road helps both.
Unlike a solid fence, mesh does not collect snowdrifts, because the wind blows straight through.
The biggest threat to both fences is frost heave. In wet clay, frozen ground lifts a post with an unsuitable footing, and in spring it does not settle back where it was. A post whose concrete is wider at the top than the bottom, like a mushroom, is lifted most easily.
On roll mesh a small movement goes unnoticed until a corner post tilts and the whole run slackens; on a panel fence a lifted post shows at once as a step in the top line. In many parts of Harju County limestone lies close to the surface, so the hole is drilled into the rock or the post anchored to it rather than left shallow. If your fence already leans, see how we repair a leaning fence and loose posts.
Roll mesh bends to follow a gentle slope and uneven ground. 3D panels are rectangles: on a gentle slope each can be dropped slightly at every post, while steeper ground calls for steps, each leaving a triangular gap underneath that is closed with a concrete gravel board or soil.
Steps make the fence taller at the lower end of each panel. Unless the plan says otherwise, the regulation on technical data of structures measures height from the ground immediately around the fence, and on a slope from the average of the lowest and highest ground level. With a permitted height of 1.5 m, for example, choose a panel that stays within it at the steps too. The municipal rules are in our fence height guide.
On roll mesh the load sits on the corner, end and gate posts; on panels it is spread across a post at every joint. Post depth and footing are chosen for the ground. Before drilling, find out where underground cables run: in the protection zone of an electricity or telecom cable you may not dig deeper than 0.3 m or use impact tools such as a post driver without the owner's consent.
Even a light mesh fence may need a building notice. If building it involves digging deeper than 30 cm, Annex 1 of the Building Code requires a building notice and a design, whether the infill is mesh or panels. Our fence permit guide explains how to file one.
Plan the gates with the fence. A 3D panel fence usually gets pedestrian and vehicle gates in the same panel and colour, and roll mesh gets mesh or panel infill in a frame. Gate posts are always heavier and set deeper than fence posts, because the weight and movement of the gate load them constantly.
On a short frontage the gate costs more than the fence: in our price guide, 20 m of 3D panel fence costs €700–1,200 and an automated sliding gate €2,100–3,000. If automation comes later, have a cable duct laid while the fence is built.
Sources: Regulation on technical data of structures, Building Code (Ehitusseadustik), Building Code, Annex 1.
Both fences are see-through, so they usually satisfy plans that require transparency: the Saku, Keila and Maardu plans ask for at least 25%, and in Harku Municipality a mesh fence at a house may be up to 1.5 m tall.
The exception is the milieu-value areas (miljööala) of Tallinn, where mesh and welded-panel fences are not considered suitable. Between plots they may be allowed as an exception if a dense hedge or climbers hide them completely, but never on the street side, and the city decides case by case. In Nõmme the plan generally expects a sparse, see-through timber picket fence or mesh combined with a hedge, with mesh allowed between plots.
Sources: Saku general plan, Keila general plan, Maardu general plan, Harku Municipality, structures, Tallinn, fences in milieu-value areas, Nõmme district general plan.
On a 100 m boundary, roll mesh comes to €2,500–4,500 and 3D mesh panels to €3,500–6,000, including materials and standard installation. All prices and worked examples are in our price guide.
Corners add to the cost of roll mesh, since every corner and end needs a heavy braced post. Height, gravel boards and slope add to the cost of panels, since stepped installation takes more work. Both depend on gates, removal and disposal of the old fence, and ground conditions such as limestone or waterlogged clay.
The exact price comes in a written quote after a free site visit, and on request we price both options and a combination so you can compare whole fences rather than metres.
Neither fence needs painting. Once a year, check the posts, clamps and tension, and touch up strimmer or mower scratches before rust spreads under the coating. Roll mesh can be re-tensioned; on a panel fence, check each spring that no post has lifted.
On a 120 m boundary with 25 m facing the street, this mix costs €3,250–5,775 in our price guide, against €3,000–5,400 for roll mesh all round and €4,200–7,200 for panels all round. A tidy frontage adds only a couple of hundred euros.
Braced corner and end posts decide how long roll mesh lasts. A quote without bracing often means re-tensioning within a couple of winters.
Whether panels are stepped or raked becomes clear once the levels are measured, and we show you in advance how big the gaps under the steps will be and how we will close them.
Gates with the same infill make the fence look like one piece, and their posts go in the right place on stronger footings. Adding a gate later often means taking part of the fence apart.
Corner and end posts are not braced or line wires are missing, so the mesh slackens within a couple of winters.
Posts were set at different heights or one of them has been lifted by frost.
Stepped panels on a slope leave triangular gaps that nobody planned for.
Windbreak fabric or strips were added, but the posts were chosen for an open fence.
The fence stands too close to the road and snow is pushed straight into it.
The bottom gap was left too large and no gravel board was fitted.
In our price guide, roll mesh is €25–45/m and 3D panels €35–60/m installed. On a 50 m boundary the difference is usually €500–750, but gates and corners often affect the total more than the fence type.
A correctly installed 3D panel fence, because a rigid panel does not stretch or sag. Roll mesh stays straight when the corner and end posts are braced and the line wires are properly tensioned. After ground movement roll mesh may need re-tensioning, while a lifted post on a panel fence has to be re-levelled.
Level the fence line before installation and set the posts so the bottom of each panel sits close to the ground. On a slope, the steps leave triangular gaps that are closed with a concrete gravel board or soil. With a dog in the garden, it is worth fitting gravel boards along the whole fence.
Usually not. Panels need a post at every joint and matching fixings, while old posts are often at a different spacing, rusted at ground level or leaning. At the site visit we check whether any of them can be reused.
On a 3D panel fence usually only the damaged panel and, if needed, the post are replaced, provided a panel of the same height and colour is still available. A small dent in roll mesh can often be pulled out, and a new piece can be woven into chain-link in place of a torn one. With more serious damage, the mesh is replaced between two tensioning points.
You can, but the wind then loads the fence almost like a solid wall. The posts of an ordinary panel fence are chosen for an open fence, and screened stretches may start to lean in a storm. If you plan to screen it, we size the posts and foundations for that stretch for the higher load from the start.
Checked on 27 September 2026. This guide is not legal advice: check the current requirements before work starts.
At a free site visit we check the boundary, slope and ground and give you a written quote for both roll mesh and 3D panels.